User Reviews

I see the only other review is dated 2000 - which is a pity. So I'm writing this for those of you who are really, really doing your homework.

Even in 2013, if you can get a Consonance for under $1000, or even better with a phono stage for under say $1200 - then buy it and you will not regret your purchase! The Consonance, like the even better Consummate is an extremely flexible/capable remote controlled preamp with top notch sound by any standard. Perhaps not the absolute best, but you wouldn't be reading this if you could afford the absolute best.

Buy a Consonance, install an upgrade fuse (Furutech or HiFi-Tuning) + an upgrade power cord (I use a MAC HC) and you will have a preamp as good or better sounding than the stock JRDG Consummate - which is (still?) a reference preamp for some well known persons in the audio industry.

I don't have a golden ear, but a pretty good audio memory and a Mod Squad Deluxe Line Drive AGT to use a reference. Have I heard everything - of course not. Regardless - whether it was 1999 or is 2013 I am confident that the Consonance is at least in the ballpark with the best (especially after a couple of tweaks) and is very, very flexible to boot. Did I say flexible - download and read through the Owner's Manual.

Is this the preamp for you? I don't know, but I seriously doubt that you will regret giving it an audition. I have a $10,000+ system built up over several decades and still think the Consonance is a real sweetheart. Your mileage may vary, but remember that a system is a system and not an individual component.

I have had a certain sound stuck in my head for quite a while and have not been able to acheive it. I traded a piece of junk B&K Reference 20 and a couple of other useless pieces plus $50.00 for this puppy. When I hooked it up I knew that my search for a pre-amp was over! I heard things in some of my discs that I never heard before! Fingers flying across the guitar strings, singers breathing just before their next note, and instruments that were lost before in the recording. The imaging is so exact that you feel the presence in the room! The vocals will make you look around the room to see if you can see the singer! Female vocals will give you goose bumps! Mariah Carey, Phobe Snow, Madonna, Dianna Krall will all come alive in your living room! The midrange is smooth and rich, tube-like, and the bass is energetic and precise. Detailed highs that are crisp but not harsh. What really adds to the charm of this piece is that it comes with a great remote and a sensor. If your unit is in an awkwark place the remote sensor will take of the problem. Everything that is on the unit is on the remote. This baby is built like a tank and if you open it up you can see the quality for which Jeff Rowland is famous for! I don't know if you can tell or not, but I am in love with this piece. Over the years I have had well over forty different systems before I started getting into the high end market, or "rich people music" as I so call it. I don't have the big cash so everything I have obtained has been quality used equipment through cash and bartering. I am using a Meridan DVD/CD player with a Meridian DAC, Martain Logan SL3's, and a Denon 2400 amp (which is the last piece of equipment that I have to get rid of). Even through this old Denon the Consonance has brought me audible pleasure without any "fatiguing." I never understood that term until I starting listening to different units. Right now I am in pursuit of a pair of PSE monoblocks which should complete my mission, if that is at all possible in the world of Hi-Fi! If anyone out there is considering buying this unit, I say jump on it and you will not regret it. It is truly a transparent "eargasm" unit that will make you want to come home and enjoy it over and over!